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Boston Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center are considering a merger, a deal that, if approved, would be the biggest union of Boston teaching hospitals in nearly two decades. A merger would link two nonprofit hospitals that both treat many low-income patients and have endured financial struggles. BMC, the state’s largest “safety net” hospital, has an especially high number of patients on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor. Tufts has tried to carve a place for itself in a city rich with world-renowned hospitals. (McCluskey and Weisman, 12/11)

The wave of Massachusetts hospital consolidations is building. Tufts Medical Center and Boston Medical Center (BMC) issued statements Wednesday night confirming that the two not-for-profit institutions are discussing a merger. (Bebinger, 12/10)

A Department of Veterans Affairs hospital project near Denver came to a standstill this week after federal judges ruled the VA was in breach of contract, hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and devoid of a plan to adequately fund the facility. The billion-dollar project is one of four large VA construction plans that in recent years have faced cost and schedule overruns, as well as scrutiny by legislators and government auditors. The agency is moving to upgrade its facilities amid the growing number of veterans returning from more than a decade of war. (Kesling, 12/10)

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services decision last week to limit admissions to Osawatomie State Hospital has had an immediate effect on the state’s mental health system. Marilyn Cook, executive director at COMCARE, the community mental health center in Wichita, said the state’s decision to suspend admission of voluntary patients and more closely screen involuntary admissions at the Osawatomie facility recently prevented the center from transferring several patients thought to be a danger to themselves or others. KDADS last week announced an immediate suspension of voluntary admissions to Osawatomie after federal surveyors threatened to block a significant portion of its Medicare payments. The agency also said involuntary admissions would be “aggressively triaged” and that would-be patients were not to be sent to Osawatomie unless their transfer had been pre-approved by an “admissions officer” or an on-duty physician. The new policy is designed to reduce the number of patients at Osawatomie, which in recent months has often exceeded its licensed capacity. (Ranney, 12/10)